Tensions are rising and I love it

Welcome back to “The Challenge: Vendettas”! Fortunately things on “The Challenge” are never slow for long. Things are heating up this week, and certain relationships may boil over. Last week we left off with the losing team voting Marie in to go straight into elimination. However, it is the Troika that will decide on whom she shall face.

Kailah and Marie are roommates, Cara Marie’s vendettas, and known partners in the house. They are also scrambling to not face each other in the elimination, to avoid sending a friend home. Marie wants to go against UK rookie, Kayleigh. She thinks she’s weak and does not have many ties in the house. However, one strong tie she does have, is with Nelson, a member of this week’s Troika. So that was a failure. Instead she goes to appeal to Bananas, where she is shut down and turns campaigning into an argument. Things are not looking too good for Marie.

Things were not going so well for her alliance member, Kailah either. Aware of the target on her back, Kailah attempts to appeal to Bananas in an effort to keep her out of the elimination and from sending her closest ally home. The thing about Kailah is that she is relatively new to the game and is not the most strategic player on the cast, or her room for that matter. In an effort to seem less threatening, she tells Bananas that she is working with his friends, Zach, Tony and Leroy. That was a dumb decision. In her effort to show him that they were on the same side, Bananas was able to make her a larger target by stating he is not on her list. She essentially stated that he’s forth with her, at best.

With Bananas and Natalie in the Troika, while maintaining their little showmance, they have a lot of power. Other ‘power’ couples in the house include Cara Maria and her foreign pirate Kyle, Nelson and the other Brit left, Kayleigh, and then there’s ‘Day One’ couple, Brad and Britni. Nelson, Natalie and Bananas made up the Troika for this week and had to choose three women to face then in the inquisition. Since there are three of each, each member of the Troika can nominate one girl, in essence. However Nelson and Bananas have always been on opposite sides so their targets are very different. Natalie is a rookie so she just wants a strong player out, and is following Banana’s lead, given their relationship. During deliberation, the couple is pushing for Nicole, Kailah and Kam to be put on the board. Nelson avidly denies Kam’s involvement this week, as she looked out for him week six, by voting in Brad. Instead, Nelson wants to put in Cara Marie. Cara was on the winning team, and the only member not in the Troika, putting her in a vulnerable position. The only girls not mentioned the entire time were Jemmye and Britni, so they are sitting pretty for a few weeks.

Ultimately the Troika chose Nicole, Kailah and Cara Marie to join them in the inquisition, before deciding who will go in to face Marie. They chose Nicole, because she has an abundance of connections in the house and is heavily aligned with strong players. Kam is also campaigning for Nicole to be voted in as the house believes the next elimination is mental. Marie has a reputation of being smart (and nothing else good) and Nicole…does not have that reputation in the slightest. If Kam could get Nicole in against Marie, then she had a chance to keep her alliance together.

It was all for naught as the next day revealed; the Troika voted Kailah into the elimination to go against Marie. The elimination is “Basket Case,” a title that at least three cast members have referred to Marie as. The competitors must break out of a closed, weaved basket and then complete a puzzle. Kailah won heads above Marie, who was checked out from the get go. Kailah is not considered a genius by any means, but she was able to complete her puzzle before Marie could start hers. Marie has pattern of giving up and checking out, so her loss was not a shock to anyone. It was, however, a disappointment to host, TJ Lavin, who hates quitters and is quite vocal about it.

With Kailah’s win, she is going back to the house with a grenade in her disposal. She has her choice of Team Up, Cash Out or Put or Shut up. Then, with the announcement of Leroy returning to the game, the cast headed back home.

The following challenge is a simple one. In theory. The cast is divided into two teams for a soccer match! While running on bungee-stilts, kicking a large medicine ball and trapped in their own plastic ball. Kailah was able to choose a grenade, and decided on Team Up, the ability to pick the teams. She put all the weaker and injured competitors on one team and kept the stronger people on her team. This plan worked very well in her favor as her team won! Last season on “The Challenge: Dirty Thirty,” she had a similar power and butchered it incredibly. This challenge is ridiculous in a fun way; there’s no sinister plans, or deathly heights, just a good game in a gladiator ring.

With Kailah’s team winning, it is time to choose the new Troika. As Kailah picked the team and gave up the other grenades to do so, she was chosen. Brad attempted to worm his way into the Troika by claiming he ‘assisted’ with two goals. Assistance didn’t really matter given that the goals were made by Zach and Tony, rounding out the Troika. As Kailah said before, these three are working together, so it should be smooth sailing. As it is a males’ elimination week, the losing team must vote for which guy is going straight into the elimination. The losing team was made up of an injured Leroy, injured Bananas, Nelson, Devin, Cara Marie, Britni, Jemmye and Kayleigh. The votes are split for Devin and Bananas, whom are also vendettas with each other. Bananas is a major player in the game with a little too much influence, and Devin is sick of it. Devin, Nelson and Britni vote for Bananas to go into the elimination. Bananas, Cara and Jemmye vote for Devin. Kayleigh, Nelson’s showmance and perceived ally, shocked everyone by going against his vote, and saying Devin’s name, sending him into the elimination.

With Kayleigh’s admission that she’s here to get money and not be loyal to anyone, a lot of things are up in the air. People are questioning her integrity and potential deals that she made. The Troika now has to decide who will battle Devin in the elimination. If it was up to Devin, he would rather face Bananas head on. That is what we have to look forward to in the next episode of “The Challenge: Vendettas”! Tune in to MTV at 9 p.m Tuesday nights to watch Bananas implode!

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